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Trial begins in robbery case
YOUNGSTOWN
The jury trial is under way in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for a 43-year-old North Side man accused of robbing a pregnant woman and her boyfriend at gunpoint in their home late last year.
Allen Tapscott, of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is on trial in the courtroom of Judge R. Scott Krichbaum. He has been indicted on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and illegal possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys offered opening statements Wednesday to a jury of five women and seven men.
Rebecca Doherty, an assistant county prosecutor, told the jurors the case hinges on the testimony of the 25-year-old female victim, who was pregnant at the time, and her 25-year-old boyfriend.
Doherty told the jurors the male victim was on the computer at a Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Association property in the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard apartment home of his girlfriend Nov. 2, while the pregnant woman was in bed ordered to bed rest.
Tapscott, who she said is familiar with the couple, came into the home through an unlocked door and pointed a gun at the couple demanding cash and valuables.
“He felt they were easy targets, and he was going to rob them, but they knew who he was,” Doherty said.
The prosecutor said the couple told Tapscott their cash was kept at another apartment. Tapscott allowed the woman to go retrieve the funds, but the woman instead went to another apartment and called police.
Doherty said Tapscott ransacked their home until he heard approaching sirens and ran off. The male victim followed him to see where he was going. The victims, according to prosecutors, described and identified Tapscott to police. Tapscott was eventually picked out of a photo lineup, Doherty said.
Doherty told jurors the YMHA property does have cameras but there is no video footage of the alleged incident.
Atty. Ross Smith, representing Tapscott, said his client has a history with the victims that had led to the charges against him. He said his client is not guilty of any of the charges.
Smith asked the jury to question the credibility of testimony in the case, question the lack of physical evidence and question whether there is enough evidence to convict Tapscott.
“Don’t be afraid to ask yourselves what’s really going on here,” Smith told the jurors.